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[en español abajo]
On Thursday, January 26, Guatemala’s former dictator Efrain Rios Montt sat in court while the Public Prosecutor read the evidence against him…and read…and read…until he had summarized the crimes committed by armed forces under Rios Montt’s command in 1982-83 which constituted acts of genocide in Guatemala’s Ixil Triangle (San Juan Cotzal, San Gaspar Chajúl and Santa María Nebaj): the forced displacement of 29,000, the deaths of 1,771 individuals in 11 massacres, as well as torture and 1,485 acts of sexual violence against women.

For families and communities that have endured decades of fear, silence and impunity in cases that relate to the internal conflict, this was a rare day when justice seemed less illusive, even possible.

[Photo: El Periodico]

Inside and outside the courtroom, Guatemalans gathered to watch the hearing. The steps of the court building were decorated with flowers, photographs of lost loved ones, and a large sawdust carpet denouncing impunity. Hundreds more – of not thousands – watched via live-stream.

Rios Montt, who took power in 1982 after a military coup, declared himself president, dissolved congress, and annulled the constitution. As leader of the military high command, he “authorized, created, designed and supervised” the military’s counterinsurgency strategy which targeted the civilian population in the indigenous highlands, declaring them internal enemies that needed to be “destroyed.” The scorched earth policy that was carried out in the following 17 months has become widely recognized as the most violent period in all of Guatemala’s 36-year conflict.

As the crimes themselves are not in question, the prosecution focused on Rios Montt’s command responsibility; the idea that, as president and commander in chief, he was directly in the chain of command with authority over those who carried out the acts, that he was informed about what happened, and that he actively oversaw and perpetuated a state policy of violence that targeted a specific ethnic group.

Human rights lawyer Edgar Pérez, representing victims organizations CALDH and AJR, spoke eloquently about the cultural and ethnic destruction caused by Rios Montt’s policies. Using military plans and strategies from the time, including Operación Sofía, Plan Victoria ’82 and Plan Firmenza ’83, he described the how the Rios Montt regime institutionalized the war against the indigenous, and that the dictator personally received updates as to the military’s actions.

Their evidence was convincing to the public, and many waited for hours to hear the judge’s decision. At 9:30pm, Judge Patricia Flores ruled that there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a trial.

Photo: Reuters

Rios Montt declined to speak in his own defense, saying only: “I prefer to remain silent.” It was only on January 14th that the former dictator left Congress, and lost his immunity. In December, he had presented himself to the court to “know the charges against him” and was quickly subpeoned to appear for Thursday’s hearing. Despite the official charges against him, the judge ruled, against protocol, that Rios Montt could post bail and be put under house arrest instead of going to jail.

The two other members of the military high command from Rios Montt’s regime, then head of the Military Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mario Lopez Fuentes and Mejia Víctores, then Defense Minister, were subpoenaed last year but their evidentiary hearings were both postponed due to health issues.

The case is far from over, but for many, Thursday’s trial was a positive first step in Guatemala’s right to truth and justice.

See an interview with GHRC’s Director on Al-Jazeera about the hearing here.